Title 49, Conservation and Ecology

(1) Each person employed by the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks as a sworn law enforcement officer who meets the requirements of subsection (2) of this section, and who retires for superannuation or for reason of disability under the Public Employees’ Retirement Syste…

(1) All appointments of conservation officers shall be under rules adopted and promulgated by the commission. No person shall be appointed from and after July 1, 2001, unless he meets the following requirements:(a) Is at least twenty-one (21) years of age; and(b) Has successfully…

(a) There is hereby created a Conservation Officers’ Reserve Unit, hereinafter termed “the reserve,” to assist the conservation officers in the performance of their duties. The reserve shall consist of volunteers who are approved by the chief law enforcement officer of the depart…

(1) No member of the commission, the executive director, administrative officer, employee, supervisor or conservation officer shall be active in any manner for or on behalf of his own candidacy or the candidacy of any candidate for any public office during his term of office or e…

(1) Each member of the commission or any officer or employee of the commission handling funds of the commission shall execute and file with the proper officer a bond in the sum of Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00), with a surety company authorized to do business in the state, …

(1) The commission may promulgate rules and regulations, inaugurate studies and surveys, and establish any services it deems necessary to carry out wildlife laws. A violation of any rules or regulations promulgated by the commission shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be pun…

The Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall be the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife Conservation and shall retain all powers and duties granted by law to the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife Conservation, and wherever the term “Mississippi Commission on Wildlife Con…

Whenever the commission shall desire to construct or cause to be constructed any dam or similar structure in or across any lake, stream, river or other waters under its control in order to prevent or control the deterioration or drying up of such waters, and the construction of s…

(1) The commission may publish an official magazine concerning the activities of the department and other matters of interest to Mississippi hunters, fishermen, boaters and other outdoorsmen. The commission may set, charge and collect a fee for subscriptions and make such other r…

The edible portions of all game or fur-bearing animals, game birds, and fish seized under the provisions of this chapter or any other law for the protection of wild animals, birds, or fish, shall be disposed of by the department or under its direction to needy recipients, charita…

The commission may issue permits to kill any species of animals or native, nonmigratory birds which may become injurious to agricultural or other interests in any particular community. All migratory birds, including hawks, owls, and eagles and their nests and eggs are protected b…

The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall be the Department of Wildlife Conservation and shall retain all powers and duties granted by law to the Department of Wildlife Conservation, and wherever the term “Department of Wildlife Conservation” appears in any law the sa…

The commission may issue a permit, revocable at pleasure, to any person authorizing the holder to collect and possess wild animals or wild birds, or birds’ nests or eggs for scientific purposes, but no permit shall authorize the collection, possession, purchase or sale of migrato…

(1) The director shall have general supervision and control of all conservation officers, and shall enforce all the laws and regulations of the state relating to wild animals, birds and fish, and shall exercise all necessary powers incident thereto not specifically conferred on t…

(1) A conservation officer may enter in or upon public or private lands or waters where game or fish are known to range in the performance of his duties to enforce the wildlife laws of the state and the conservation officer shall not be subject to criminal liability for trespass …

In addition to the regulations of the commission and the statutes relating to protection and preservation of wildlife and the environment, conservation officers are hereby authorized to assist in the detection and apprehension of violators of the laws of this state which pertain …

Rules, regulations and orders of the commission shall be published in accordance with the “Mississippi Administrative Procedures Law.”

The commission is hereby authorized to execute and deliver deeds or other documents to make clear any ambiguity that may exist in any deed or conveyance to it, or to make the deed or conveyance to the commission conform to the intent of the parties as to the estate or rights or e…

The commission is hereby authorized to, and shall cooperate with the several state departments and officials in the conduct of matters in which the interest of the respective departments or officials overlap.

All funds collected by the department under this chapter shall be used by the commission for the purpose of carrying out all purposes of this chapter.

The department may, with any funds owned by it, purchase equipment and/or office furnishings sufficient to carry on its work; and, if the Department of Finance and Administration cannot assign suitable offices for the department in either of the state capitols, in the city of Jac…

(1) The Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks’ Mississippi Museum of Natural Science is hereby designated as Mississippi’s official State Natural Science Museum.The museum will henceforth be named “Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, The Fannye A. Cook Memori…

(a) The State of Mississippi hereby assents to the provisions of the Act of Congress entitled, “An Act to Revise and Clarify the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act and the Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act,” approved October 23, 1970 (Public Law 91-503, 91st Congress). The…

(1) The department is hereby authorized to purchase liability insurance to cover the following:(a) Any officer in charge and control of an armory used for firearm instruction in the State of Mississippi, as a part of the Mississippi Hunter Safety Program;(b) Any Mississippi certi…

Any assessments collected under subsection (3) of Section 99-19-73 shall be deposited in a special fund hereby created in the State Treasury and designated the “Hunter Education and Training Program Fund,” which shall be expended to defray the expenses of the program as authorize…

The director shall appoint a chief law enforcement officer who shall be qualified and experienced in law enforcement work and who has served for not less than five (5) years as a duly sworn wildlife enforcement officer in the department and who has served in a supervisory positio…